1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fan apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A server computer has a function of transmitting information to client computers. Such server computers may include a rack-mount server and a blade server, for example.
Generally, a blade server is provided with a plurality of plate-like blades, an enclosure, and a rack. Each blade includes an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), memories, and the like mounted thereon. The blades are accommodated in the enclosure using a high density arrangement, and are attached to the rack for storage together with the enclosure. In general, a power supply for supplying a current to the blade server and a cooling device for cooling the blade server are shared by a plurality of blades disposed in one enclosure.
As described above, the cooling device is disposed in the inside of the enclosure. In the enclosure, a plurality of blades are disposed in a high density arrangement. For this reason, heat generated by the electronic components (e.g., MPU, memories, and the like) disposed in the respective blades is undesirably likely to stay inside the enclosure. Therefore, it is necessary for the cooling device disposed in the enclosure to efficiently cool the electronic components and the ventilate the inside of the enclosure.
In general, a fan is used as the cooling device. In addition, a duct is attached to the fan. The duct is used for guiding the airflow generated by the fan to an arbitrary position in the enclosure. However, due to the coupling structure of the duct and the fan, the shape of the air channel portion, the flow path area, and the like, between the fan and the duct are varied. Such variations affect certain characteristics such as the air quantity and the static pressure of the airflow generated by the fan. Accordingly, it is necessary to ensure that the coupling structure of the fan and the duct do not interfere with fan characteristics such as the air quantity and the static pressure of the airflow.